This invention relates to improvements to fenders, including a fender adapted to be attached to a supporting surface.
Fenders are designed to absorb the energy of a shock or impact. They are used in many varied locations, including marine environments, vehicles, fairs, hospitals, etc. One common fender is a solid strip of rubber. However, solid rubber is expensive.
Various fenders having a more open structure have been suggested, and one example is shown in our co-pending International Patent Application No. WO 97/44236A. However, there is still required a simple but secure method of attaching such fenders to a supporting surface without affecting the fendering properties.
Heretofore, U.S. Pat No. 4,910,280 discloses in one embodiment a fender bumper which can be used with others of its kind in a lengthwise arrangement along the outermost side wall of a dock. Each bumper has an outer skin and a foamed interior core and formed into a surface mounting meeting portion and a fendering body with a peripheral groove or channel separating the portion from the body. The dock connector of a selected length is mounted on the side wall of the dock to receive one or more bumpers therein either in a side-by-side relationship or in a laterally-spaced relationship as desired.
Ties or tags could be used to fix or fasten continuous fenders to a boat, pier, pontoon, vehicle, wall, etc. However, ties take time and effort to fasten. Ties are also unsightly, and can protrude making them prone to snagging. Direct attachment, e.g. using bolts, through the fender would diminish the protective property of the fender, and attachment means that pass around the fender would overlie the contact surface during any impact again diminishing the protective property.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a form of attachment for a fender which obviates or mitigates the above disadvantages.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elongate or continuous fender having a surface mounting meeting portion which is flat or substantially so and a tubular fendering body conjoined together by a covering therearound, the meeting portion including one or more elongate or continuous mounting pieces of an elongate or continuous strip and being located alongside the fendering body to create upper and lower shoulders which shoulders extend outwardly from each other at the top and bottom of the meeting portion and provide one part of a two part fastening with a surface mounting.
The shoulders provide a means for the surface mounting to grip the fender without affecting or interfering with the adjacent fendering body and its ability to fend.
The surface mounting meeting portion is preferably located only on one side of the fendering body. Thus, the majority of the contact surface of the fender, generally the surface(s) of the fendering body facing outwardly from the conjoined supporting surface, remains free, and thus maintains its impaction and protection ability.
The mounting piece or mounting pieces may be of any suitable size, shape or profile.
The strip is preferably of substantially equal or greater width than the adjacent part of the fendering body. The width of the strip may also be wholly or substantially the same width as the surface mounting facing the meeting portion of the fender.
The strip may be formed by two or more conjoined or separate pieces which provide the same effect as a single strip once in place.
The covering may be made from any suitable material, e.g. a known wrapping or tape or sheath-like material. Preferably, the covering is a plastics material, and is vacuum-formed around the mounting piece(s) and fendering body. The covering is preferably of uniform thickness.
The fendering body may have any size, shape and profile. Common profiles are circular, semi-circular, or arcuate. The present invention is not restricted by the shape and profile of the fendering body.
One possible form of fendering body comprises a tubular casing surrounding a core of a plurality of tubes. The tubes could be divided into two more sets of tubes, each set being distinct or discrete. The sets of tubes could be arranged in a concentric or other geometric pattern. The tubes or each set of tubes are preferably conjoined and held together by a wrapping. The wrapping could be spirally wound around the tubes. Further illustration of a suitable fendering body is shown in our co-pending International Patent Application No. WO 97/44346A, which is incorporated herein by way of reference.
The fender may be formed in discrete lengths or units, and cut to size as and where necessary, generally on location. The fender may be flexible longitudinally so as to form arcuate shapes to fit curved edges. End caps could be added to any open ends of the fender to help prevent the ingress of any water thereinto. The outer surface of the fender is preferably impermeable to water.
One form of seemingly continuous fender of the present invention may be formed by the conjoining of two or more lengths of elongate fender by connecting pieces, e.g. sleeves adapted to fit over or around the adjacent or neighbouring ends of the fender lengths. The connecting pieces could be straight, angled or corner pieces, preferably adapted to provide a smooth outer surface along the fender. and to provide a continuous outer surface which is wholly or substantially impermeable to water in situ.
The surface mounting may be any form of fendering, mounting or securing means able to latch onto and around two or more shoulders and so form one part of a two part fastening means. Forms of surface mounting include brackets, clasps, moveable jaws, etc. The surface mounting may be formed by discrete possible elongate units, or be continuous alongside the fender. The surface mounting may comprise separate parts to hold each shoulder separately. Preferably, the surface mounting is a single entity, and is directly attachable to a surface, e.g. with screws or bolts, etc.
The surface mounting may be alternatively an elongate or continuous bracket with a surface mounting wall and two outstanding side walls adapted to receive the shoulders thereinbetween. The side walls may be shaped to form around the shoulders. The opening between the distal ends of the bracket is preferably restricted, possibly by the side walls converging, curving or folding inwardly towards each other. One or both side walls could also have inward facing edging or a flange at one or each distal end, and could also be flexible to assist location of the surface mounting meeting portion of the fender into and/or out of the bracket.
The bracket could also have any shape or profile, one general form being a xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x9d shape. One or more locking beads could also be used to increase the pressure between a side wall or the side walls and one or both shoulders. Where the fender includes an elongate or continuous strip, the strip may be of greater width than the opening between the side walls of the bracket such that the strip can secure the neighbouring part of the fender within the bracket.
The surface mounting can be made from any suitable material including rubber, plastic, and metal such as aluminium. The surface mounting could be made of elongate lengths, e.g. by extrusion, and cut as desired or necessary. Some longitudinal flexibility in the surface mounting may assist its mounting on curved surfaces, e.g. on boats.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an impact-energy absorbing assembly comprising an elongate or continuous fender as defined above and one or more surface mountings for supporting the fender on a surface.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process for manufacturing an elongate or continuous linear fender comprising a fendering body and an elongate strip surrounded by an outer covering, the fendering body having a core of a plurality of tubes and a elongate plastic foam casing, comprising the steps of:
(a) drawing the tubes from their individual sources and aligning them collectively;
(b) longitudinally slitting the casing;
(c) feeding the aligned tubes into the casing through the slit to form the fendering body;
(d) aligning the strip alongside the casing; and
(e) enveloping the strip and casing with the outer covering.
The tubes may have a wrapping located around them prior to feeding into the casing. Once the tubes are within the casing, the slit may be glued to reform the casing. The outer sheath may be a covering such as tape wound around the strip and casing, or a plastics extrusion, e.g. from a hollow, circular die, possibly with cooling, smoothing and/or vacuum.
The fender may be partly, substantially or wholly phosphorescent or optically enhanced.
The term xe2x80x9cphosphorescentxe2x80x9d as used herein includes the terms luminescent and fluorescent. Preferably, the phosphorescence is photoluminescence, which provides a relatively long period of return light in response to activation. The term xe2x80x9coptical enhancedxe2x80x9d as used herein includes any form of activated optical enhancement or brightening in diminished light or darkness. Activation could be from daylight, UV-light, etc. The optical enhancement could be provided by one or more optical brighteners in the outer surface material.
A phosphorescent or optically enhanced fender will increase the visibility or the fender, especially in darkness. A substantial number of people do in fact fall off piers etc. during darkness. As marine fenders are usually located at the edges of boats, piers, pontoons etc., the phosphorescence can show the location of the fender and hence the edge of the pier, etc. This should reduce the risk of people accidentally falling into the adjacent water. This could also reduce the need for separate lighting.
The phosphorescent or optically enhanced fender may be discrete or continuous. The phosphorescence or optically enhancement can be applied by any means, e.g. use of a relevant paint or strip or cover, or printing a relevant compound onto the fender, or by integral forming with the fender (or at least its outer cover), possibly by co-extrusion.
The term xe2x80x9cfenderxe2x80x9d as used herein includes any structure, unit, installation. etc. designed or adapted to guard or protect a body or surface from contact or impact with another body or surface. It includes protective rails and strips, as well as marine fenders and vehicle loading bay protectors.